Pricing by attributes not working as expected

I've got a Size option, size values 100, 200, 300, and added prices of $0, $1 and $2 respectively.

The product is set to Price by Attributes on the product setup page, and each option value is set to Include in Base Price When Priced by Attributes=yes in the attribute flags.

Now, on the customer product info page, the heading says "Starting at..." as it should, but the Size option dropdown is displaying:

100
200 +$1
300 +$2

instead of (base product price is $10):

100 $10
200 $11
300 $12

I assume there's a switch I've missed somewhere.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Priced by Attribute means that the Product Price is made from the Attributes as there isn't a Product Price ...

You are using a Product Price plus an additional charge on the Attributes ...

This means, your Products should NOT be marked as Priced by Attribute as there is a Product Price with or without the attributes ...

Hmm, I understand that logic, but that's not what the official Zen Cart book says, unless I'm misreading it. It seems to say that the "Price by Attributes" option only affects the way that the prices are displayed to the customer.

See the attachment.

The example clearly shows that if you have a product price (the base price?) and then set price increments for options above that, that the starting price = the product price and the options list will show the attribute increments as starting price + increment. This obviously requires inputing a price into the product info section.

Hi Nuwanda.

I encountered the same problem as yours.
I found a workaround but do not know if it is correct.
As you do, I specify 'Product is Priced by Attributes' in the Product Info page, but there I do not specify a price for the product .
When using the Attributes Controller, I do not specify prices increment ($0, $10, $20) but 'absolute prices' ($100, $110, $120).

Then your product will display 'Starting at 100$' but unfortunately, in the dropdown menu, the prices will appear as +$100, +$110, +$120 (when you expect $100, $110, $120) , unless you suppress the + sign (replacing it by a blank) in the Attributes Controller.

Rather cumbersome but this is all I could find.

Unfortunately that work-around does not allow you to use a base price.

I too am trying to use attributes for the sizes of my prints and the customer does not want to see '+40' - they want to see the price.

Let's say I have prints

A with a base price of $20

&

B with a base price of $30

8x10 adds $10
16x20 adds $40
& so on

This works having the (+$XX) on every attribute, but not with absolute attribute values. Not acceptable.

In fact setting the 'Product Priced by Attributes:' flag appears to have absolutely no effect for me :(

So does ZenCart require you to create duplicate sets of attributes of the exact same value for this?

It appears the Official Documentation is totally wrong as the original posted stated.

btw, see other carts update the price when selecting options - that would be ok, but Zen Cart doesn't seem to do this either.

Even using the "( +$XX.xx )" method with a base it's confusing for the client:
base = $10

Zencart:
Starting at $20

option 1 ( +$10.00 )
....

they may think its $30 when when its really $10+$10 = $20

Hi Artmarket.

perhaps I was not clear enough in the description of the way I solved this issue.

In the Product Info Page, I specify 'Product Priced by Attributes'=YES, and a 'Price' = 0.

Then with the Attributes Controller, I specify the prices related to the different sizes. As I have specified a base price of 0, the prices added through attributes then become absolute prices.

The only problem that remains is that all these prices are prefixed by a '+' sign, which is confusing for the customer, as you mentioned. However, this '+' sign can be suppressed if you replace the '+' sign by a blank in the 'Prices and Weights' windows that opens each time you edit an attribute.

It should work for you, since it works for me (I am using Zencart 1.3.7.1).

I hope this helps.

Thanks, Tryphon, it's all fallen into place for me now.

So, for anyone who had the same initial problem I did about pricing different products with different prices even though the same sizes were being used, well, it actually isn't a problem at all.

Just set up a global option name and value, like:

• Option name: Size
• Option values: 100ml, 200ml, etc.

Then follow Tryphon's instructions above, that is:

• In the product info page, set the price at $0, and select Price By Attributes
• In the Attributes Controller page select the product (make sure you click on it and hit Display)
• Select the option name and option value, eg: Size - 100ml
• Remove the + sign from the price box
• Input the price for that particular size

Done!

Just do that with all your products and it works perfectly.

thanks, there still is no 'base price' - if you change your base price using this method, you have to go in and change every option value for every product (instead of just changing the base price).

The way it works for me is when you remove the '+' the value becomes 'absolute' instead of 'relative'. Ive got it working, but not as flexible as could be and definately not how documented ;)

artmarket:

The way it works for me is when you remove the '+' the value becomes 'absolute' instead of 'relative'. Ive got it working, but not as flexible as could be and definately not how documented ;)

True. I hope someone from the developer team is reading this, or can correct us if we're wrong.

I have this problem too, and I appreciate for the temporary solution provided in this topic.

Let's say I want the Product to be
Red $10
Yellow $20
Green $30

I would mark the Product as Priced by Attribute YES ...

I would mark the Product Price as 0.00 ...

Then I would add the Attributes:

Red
Prefix (blank)
Price 10.00

Yellow
Prefix (blank)
Price 20.00

Green
Prefix (blank)
Price 30.00

I'm looking at the attribute pricing thing and I thought I understood it like the original poster.

So, Ajeh, if I understand you correctly, this means I would have to not only add each product to the catalog at the price of $0.00, but then also create a separate set of attirbutes for each product, where the actual price for the product would be absolutely defined according to the attribute? (Even though the attributes (model/color) are essentially the same for (nearly) every product?)

Sorry, that was a long sentence!

We also don't want the price to read...

+$4.00
+$6.00
+$8.00

...but the actual price of each product whatever model it is.

Thanks for any clarification.

Rebekah

Could you give a more detailed description of your Products and the pricing?

I am not sure if you need attributes or not as your description is very vague yet you appear to be wanting details on the Products that may be Attribute oriented or might be better setup as individual Products ...

Hi Linda, Thanks for the reply.

Here's a link to our new site (still totally a work in progress)...

http://thewindcutter.com/shop/index.php

I'm still trying to figure out what would be the best way to set up the products/categories. Currently, we have about five different "models" of WindCutter. (On our current "live" site (http://thewindcutter.com) we mostly only have our standard black model offered, but we've added several new models since I did that ZC shop a couple years ago. I'm trying to update it.)

• Standard Black................1" long hairs.......Base price, say, $35.95
• Bronze Pro......................1 1/4" hairs........This model is $4.00 more than Standard Black
• SoundMaster...................2" hairs..............$6.00 more than Standard Black
• StormChaser Black..........Denser 2"..........$8.00 more
• StormChaser White.........Denser 2"..........Also, $8.00 more

Right now I have input an individual product for each model. But, in the interest of helping people go straight to what they want, I'm thinking maybe I should change this. Maybe add another sub-category level for each. I'm still not sure about this.

The shop's category structure goes like this right now...

• Top Level Category............WindCutters (Fur windscreens)
• • Sub-Category..................Brand (Canon, Sony, etc.)
• Top Level Category............Foam Windscreens
• • Sub-Category..................(Haven't set this up yet)
• Top Level Category............Fur & Foam Sets
• • Sub-Category..................(This also isn't finished)

The "Brand"category is where the page lists all the products for that brand. All the 5 different individual models of WindCutters for each mic or camcorder model. At this point buyers would need to scroll down and search for their particular model of microphone to find the WindCutter they want (all five different models). I think maybe this is not categorized far enough. Maybe I need another level...

Sub-Sub Category = Actual Mic or camcorder model (XL-H1, HVR-V1p, etc.)

That way they could go straight to exactly what's offered for their mic model, which would be one page with up to five results. (No clicking to another page.)

I'd guess I'd have to make a category for each product that way.

I'm thinking if I used attributes then there would just be one product page that offered all the different models.

The other thing I'm considering is, instead of using attributes, link from one model to all four other models on the the same page. So, while they're looking at one model they will see the other choices available.

Sorry, this is probably more than you wanted to know. I hope it's not too confusing. I'm mainly trying to figure the best way to offer people all their choices and make it easy for them.

Maybe I don't need to be bothering with attributes at all. Maybe some sort of cross-sell or related items thing.

Want do you think?

Thanks a lot for your help. I really appreciate it.

Rebekah

I am rather leaning towards separate products and the Cross Sell would be a good way to relate similar products to suggest other things ...

That also lets your stock track easier and you can get more specific for the individual products than products with just attributes ...

Perhaps turn on the Previous/Next on the product _info ... I like to be able to move between products just to see what else there is ...